Paranorman, the second stop motion feature from Laika, will open on August 17, 2012.

I hereby claim Paranorman in advance as an Oregon film, based on the fact that it was made in Oregon, and produced by Travis Knight, the Oregon filmmaker who also serves as one of its lead animators.

Entertainment Weekly called them “the coolest wrinkled musicians this side of the Stones”.  The brainchildren of California Raisin Marketing Board, the musically talented Raisins first came to life at Will Vinton Studios in 1986.

They took the country by storm.

Executive producer Will Vinton, producer David Altschul and writer Ralph Liddle collected a 1988 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for their work.

I hereby claim A Claymation Christmas Celebration as an Oregon film on the basis of multiple criteria (credits include two Oregon Oscar winners – Will Vinton and Joan Gratz).

James Westby spent 20 days shooting Rid Of Me.

Then, into the cutting room.

Two years later he and his leading lady Katie O’Grady took the Tribecca Film Festival by storm with their comedy of a milquetoast who finally unleashes the power of her sexuality. Rid Of Me stars O’Grady, with support from (wonderful) Orianna Herrman, Storm Large, Art Alexakis, and Teresa Russell.

How do you fund an entirely independent romantic comedy? Here’s one of the ways James Westby did it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

James Westby tapped a wealth of producing talent for Rid Of Me — congratulations to all five of them – Kristin Coleman, Katie O’Grady, Robin Schiff-Coste, Raija Talus, and Westby himself – for creating a film which at least one Hollywood insider sees marked for multiple Oscar nominations.

Rid Of Me opens in theaters November 18, 2011.

I hereby claim Rid Of Me as an Oregon film, based on every qualification you can think of.

Yes, that’s Sallie “Force Of Nature” Ford on the soundtrack!

In 1993, Joan Gratz became the second director to bring an Oscar back home from Los Angeles to Portland.

It was her second time at the Oscars. In 1982, Gratz’ film The Creation had been nominated.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the above clip, you can hear Joan thank Jim Blashfield, Melissa Marsland, and ( I think) Chel White.

I hereby claim Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase as an Oregon film, based on the Oregon citizenship of director Joan Gratz, in addition to the location of the studio in which it was made.

Michael Jackson, pictured here with a few Michael wannabes.

Michael Jackson can do many things, but he can’t direct his own music videos. For that, he taps the best filmmakers around – John Landis (Thriller), Martin Scorsese (Bad) and Jim Blashfield (Leave Me Alone).

Leave Me Alone was made in Portland at Jim Blashfield’s studio. It won a Grammy, the Cannes Golden Lion (for special effects) and an MTV award (for special effects).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rolling Stone placed it at #8 in their list of Top 100 Music Videos of All Time.

Jim Farber, writing in Connoisseur Magazine, May 1989, sums it up:

While poking fun at the wildest tabloid rumors about the star’s life, Blashfield offers unexpected insight into Jackson’s psychology.  He constructs two Jacksons here– one an impish child, the other a Gulliver-style giant, trapped in a labyrinth of roller coasters and log flumes.  With wit and empathy, he portrays him as an adult enslaved to a child’s fantasies.

I hereby claim Leave Me Alone as an Oregon film, based on the Oregon citizenship of the writer-director-producer, Jim Blashfield.

What happens when you make an EXTREMELY popular set of commercials for the California Raisins Advisory Board?

If you’re Will Vinton and Barry Bruce, you follow it up with a mock doc.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Talking Heads’ music video, And She Was, was made here in Portland.

Jim Blashfield’s first music video drew on the techniques he had explored making Suspicious Circumstances. Newly minted indie director Gus Van Sant worked for Blashfield on this video, as a stills photographer.

Rolling Stone slotted And She Was at #54 on their list of Top 100 Music Videos Of All Time.

I hereby claim And She Was as an Oregon film, citing the Oregon citizenship of Jim Blashfield.

Child actress Fairuza Balk starred as Dorothy Gale in Return to Oz (1985), directed by Walter Murch. Murch tapped Will Vinton Studios here in Portland to animate the character of the Nome King for this combination live action and stop motion animation film. Murch is a much Oscared film editor and sound editor. Return to Oz was his only time out as a director.

Henry Selick worked as a storyboard artist on Return to Oz. Twenty four years later, he would direct Coraline.

If you weren’t scared enough by Coraline, move up to an even darker film which shares some of Coraline’s bloodlines.

Walter Murch directed Fairuza Balk as the lonely little girl who can’t get adjusted to life back in Kansas. Auntie Em decides she needs electric shock therapy.

And that’s just the first act. That’s before Dorothy arrives in a bombed out, deserted Emerald City ruled by a headless psycho, played by Jean Marsh, who also plays the psychiatric nurse, back in Kansas.

Will Vinton Studios here in Portland provided the clay animated part of Nicol Williamson’s Nome King, Dorothy’s ultimate antagonist.

Lavish production values cannot wallpaper over the deep sadness of the story of a little girl confronting total devastation with only a pet chicken to help her. Dorothy negotiates a minefield of formidably evil adults without the help of the Tin Woodsman, Cowardly Lion, or Scarecrow.

See this film for Fairuza Balk’s tremendous performance, if not for those given by her assorted costars, some of which are animatronic puppets created by Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson. Henry Selick drew storyboards for this dark, sumptuous fairy tale.

This gentle, sad, scary film rewards Dorothy in the end with triumph. Children can see it, mostly because they do not understand what electroshock treatment is.

I hereby claim Return to Oz as an Oregon film, based on the contribution of Oregonian Will Vinton, and Will Vinton Studios.

A collaboration between character designer Barry Bruce, writer Susan Shadburne, and director Will Vinton, The Great Cogito was nominated for an Oscar.

I just learned William Fiesterman was another member of the team behind this film.

I hereby claim it as an Oregon film.